Establishes the payment of certain volunteer firefighter and volunteer ambulance worker death benefits shall be within ninety days of the filing of application…

Official titleShow

Establishes the payment of certain volunteer firefighter and volunteer ambulance worker death benefits shall be within ninety days of the filing of application to receive such death benefit

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

Latest action Feb 5, 2026

Establishes the payment of certain volunteer firefighter and volunteer ambulance worker death benefits shall be within ninety days of the filing of application to receive such death benefit.

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Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A4675, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Volunteer Firefighters' Benefit Law.

Committee

Local Government · New York State Senate

Also referred to Local Governments · New York State Assembly.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

To establish the payment of certain volunteer firefighter and volunteer ambulance worker death benefits to be paid within ninety days of the filing of application to receive such death benefits.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateFeb 5, 2026Result: passed
(59) (0) (0) (4)
Vote: Committee vote · Local Government
Senate Local GovernmentJan 28, 2026Result: passed
(6) (0) (0) (1)
Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateApr 1, 2025Result: passed
(63) (0) (0) (0)
Vote: Committee vote · Local Government
Senate Local GovernmentMar 18, 2025Result: passed
(7) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Anthony H. Palumbo, Dean Murray and 12 more on Agora

Republican12
Democratic2

Show all 14 on Agora

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why Monica Martinez says this is needed

Section 7 of the Volunteer Firefighters' Benefit Law (VFBL) provides a death benefit of $50,000 for volunteer firefighters who die in the line of duty. Over the years, there have been a number of instances in which payment of the VFBL death benefits were delayed. These delays cause significant hardship (financial and otherwise) for the beneficiary of the volunteer firefighter. It has been documented that in certain cases beneficiaries have waited over six months to receive payment of such death benefit. This legislation will assist surviving spouses and bene- ficiaries through the claims process and mandate that payment of bene- fits be made available within ninety days upon the filing of applica- tion. This legislation will also provide this same protection under Section 7 of the Volunteer Ambulance Workers' Benefit Law (VAWBL). This measure further encourages communication and coordination among the workers' compensation board, volunteer fire and ambulance service organ- izations, volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers and their fami- lies. While it is clear that some period of time is required in order to determine whether a death or injury occurred in the line of duty, exces- sive delays in payment only cause unnecessary anguish to the family.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Feb 5, 2026
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Feb 5, 2026
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Feb 5, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
NY Assembly
Feb 3, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Jan 29, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate

Show full history (12 earlier events)

Jan 28, 2026
1ST Report CAL.174
1ST REPORT CAL.174
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Died in Assembly
DIED IN ASSEMBLY
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
NY Assembly
Apr 1, 2025
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Apr 1, 2025
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Apr 1, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
NY Assembly
Mar 20, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Mar 19, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Mar 18, 2025
1ST Report CAL.562
1ST REPORT CAL.562
NY Senate
Feb 4, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
NY Assembly
Jan 8, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Cosponsors: The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Party colors: Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 1, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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